(21 March 2014, Hong Kong) Four engineering awards, organised by the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, have been presented at the 39th Annual Dinner of the Institution which was successfully held on 18 March 2014. The "HKIE Gold Medal 2014" was conferred on Ir Dr Andrew K C Chan, "The President’s Award 2014" was conferred on Mr David P S Chan, the "Young Engineer of the Year Award 2014" was presented to Ir Bryan M K So, and the "HKIE Innovation Awards for Young Members 2014" went to Ir Bryan M K So, Ir John S J Leung and Mr Andy K F Pang.

The HKIE Gold Medal 2014

Ir Dr Andrew K C Chan was the winner of the HKIE Gold Medal this year. The selection criteria were precise and rigorous. The Panel of Judges considered all candidates' achievements as well as their contributions to the profession and to the community. The most distinguished person was selected for the Award in recognition for his commendable achievement.

Ir Dr Andrew Chan has a 40-year career in international civil, geotechnical and multi-disciplinary engineering practice. He is currently Deputy Chairman of the global Arup Group, one of the world's foremost multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy firms, with responsibility for the global development of their strategic businesses. Prior to his present appointment, he was Chairman of Arup's East Asia Region and of the Hong Kong office.

Ir Dr Chan is distinguished for his contribution and leadership in the creation, design and delivery of some of the most celebrated buildings and infrastructure facilities in the region. These innovative and award-winning projects include the Hongkong Bank Building, IFC and ICC towers in Hong Kong, the 2008 Olympics venues, CCTV and the new airport terminal in Beijing, Canton Tower in Guangzhou, as well as major infrastructures for sustainable urban development, transport and energy projects for many cities in Asia.

Through his earlier projects and related research, Ir Dr Chan has made important contributions to the practice of urban deep excavation and foundation engineering. In recent years, he spearheaded the green building movement and advancement of sustainable design in Hong Kong, making great strides in promoting engineers' leadership role in sustainability and a low-carbon future for cities.

Ir Dr Chan actively supports engineering education, advising and lecturing at a number of universities. He is passionate about nurturing young engineers and engineers' responsibility for projects of humanitarian and social benefit.

For the profession and the community, Ir Dr Chan has served on many statutory and advisory bodies in Hong Kong over many years. He is a sought-after speaker at conferences and events both locally and internationally, and has spoken and published widely on his vision, projects and practices for planning, design and construction.

Ir Dr Chan is a Past President of the HKIE, Founding Chairman of the Hong Kong Green Building Council, Honorary Fellow of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology and Fellow and Senior Vice President of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences. In recognition of his achievements, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the UK's national academy. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace by the HKSAR Government in 2006 and awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star in 2012 for his contribution to engineering and the built-environment in Hong Kong.


The President's Award 2014

The President's Award has been set up by the Institution in recognition of the dedicated and valuable service of the member of any class who has served the Institution with distinctive achievements. This year, Mr David P S Chan receives the honour of the President's Award.

Mr David Chan joined the Highways Office of the then Public Works Department as a trainee foreman in 1973. He was subsequently promoted to Senior Inspector of Works in 1989. As a frontline quality control team leader over the past 40 years, he has played a pivotal supervisory role in ensuring our major civil engineering projects are all up to standard.

As an experienced Senior Inspector of Works, Mr Chan has been engaged in the development of the majority of MTR railway projects, Route 5 Country Park Section, Tate's Cairn Tunnel approach flyovers and Prince Edward Road Interchange, Penny's Bay Infrastructure development contracts 1 & 2, Central Reclamation phases 1 & 3, and, most recently, the West Kowloon Terminus of the Express Rail Link and its southern approach tunnel works and etc.

Mr Chan was first elected an Associate Member of the HKIE in 1986. He has been actively committed to HKIE events since 2003, organising technical talks, Mainland visits, international conferences and community services. He is now Chairman of the Associate Members Committee "Subgroup 1" as well as a member of the Task Force on Development of Associate Member.

Mr Chan has been heavily involved in protecting the welfare of resident site staff. In 1988-1991, he was a founding member of the Resident Site Staff Branch. He helped win the introduction of a 25% Contract Completion Gratuity for resident site staff in 1991. In 2005-2013, he helped them secure the removal of unfair employment terms from their government contracts.

To promote the quality and standard of our construction industry, Mr Chan promoted the status of senior construction supervisors through the formation of a "Mandatory Registration of Site Supervision Practitioner Concerning Party" in 2008. Subsequent to his effort, he was elected as Chairman of the Institute of Clerks of Works and Construction Inspectorate (Hong Kong) in 2011. He was recognised with the awards of the HKIE Professional Volunteers Service Accreditation Programme in 2009 and 2012 respectively.

Mr Chan supports a healthy lifestyle and is a registered dragon boat coach. Under his leadership, the HKIE Civil Division Dragon Boat Team was established in 2011. Through the joint efforts of several members, the HKIE Dragon Boat Team became 1st runner-up at the 2013 HK International Dragon Boat Race in the Professional Category.


Young Engineer of the Year Award 2014

In line with the overwhelming response of the Young Engineer of the Year Award in previous years, the HKIE is pleased to organise the Young Engineer of the Year Award 2014. It was glad that all candidates have had significant contributions and outstanding achievements to the profession, to the community of Hong Kong and to the HKIE. The selection process has been competitive, hence the decision on the selection has never been easy for the Panel of Judges. This year, the Award goes to Ir Bryan M K So.

Ir Bryan So received his BEng (Major in Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Minor in Computer Science) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2001 and his MSc (Industrial Engineering and Industrial Management) from the University of Hong Kong in 2006.

Ir So is a pioneer in biomedical engineering technology development. He developed a numerically controlled, user-centric 3D dental prostheses design and manufacturing system, which is the first of its kind. He also developed implantable artificial finger joints for biological repair and an innovative turnkey solution for a patented optical imaging system which supports dermatologists in early-stage diagnosis of diseases.

As a Senior Consultant at the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), Ir So has extensive professional experience in government-funded and consultancy projects, new product development and regulation of medical devices.

As an expert in medical device regulations, Ir So developed the local pilot schemes of medical device risk management system and medical device good distribution practice. He also authored the manuals for the two pilot schemes. He is the Executive Deputy Secretary General of the Asian Harmonisation Working Party (AHWP), which actively promotes the harmonisation of medical device regulatory affairs among 23 member economies. He supervises the Rapid Prototyping Technology Centre at HKPC and, as an expert in 3D printing technology, has provided design and development support in more than 300 industry and professional assignments annually.

Ir So's skill in solving medical problems through innovative engineering solutions won him the HKIE Innovation Awards for Young Members - Grand Prize (Category I) this year. He was also presented with the HKPC Most Valuable Person Award and HKPC Outstanding Supervisor Award in the past.

Ir So is committed to serving the HKIE and the community. He is a Committee Member of the HKIE Biomedical Division and Division Representative of the Community Service Committee of the HKIE. He has organised the biennial BME International Conference series since 2002 to promote the exchange of biomedical knowledge with funding support from the Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme. He is also active in industry associations and is a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities organiser. He also teaches as a guest lecturer at various local universities.

This year, Ir Bruce W H Chong, Ir Edwina P Y Lai and Ir Gordon K W Ng were also presented the Certificate of Merit.
 
The HKIE Innovation Awards for Young Members 2014

With an aim to encourage our young members to develop their creativity through innovative application of engineering knowledge, and to inspire upon them to develop their intellectual and career interests in engineering, the Institution launched the HKIE Innovation Awards for Young Members since 2008, a new initiative with the generous support of the family of the late Ir Kenneth Au-yeung. The entry can focus on any areas of engineering disciplines within the context of the HKIE. There are two main categories, namely Category I - An Invention and Category II – An Innovative Application of Engineering Theories. The innovativeness of the Design will be assessed based on its originality and creativity. This year, the two Grand Prizes go to Ir Bryan M K So (Category I) , Ir John S J Leung and Mr Andy K F Pang (Category II).

Category I - An Invention

Innovative Turnkey Solution for a Patented Non-Radioactive Optical Imaging System for Dermatological Applications by Ir Bryan M K SO

Skin cancer has become one of the top ten cancers in Hong Kong with more than 600 new cases per year. Globally incidences of skin cancer have been increasing rapidly with 2-3 million non-melanoma and 132,000 melanomas occurring each year.

Under current medical practice, most medical doctors rely on their visual judgement to assess suspected skin lesions. They lack an effective tool to help with visual assessment while biopsy is invasive, time-consuming and costly.

The patented solution, which was developed with the support of the Innovation and Technology Fund, comprises a hardware bio-optics image capturing system and a software skin lesion analyser. The latter is based on the "ABCD rule", which can assist medical doctors in identifying and monitoring the symptoms of potential skin cancer more effectively.

Ir Bryan So received his BEng (Major in Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Minor in Computer Science) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2001 and MSc (Industrial Engineering and Industrial Management) from the University of Hong Kong in 2006. He is currently a Senior Consultant at the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) with responsibility for biomedical engineering projects. He also supervises the Rapid Prototyping Technology Centre at HKPC, offering product design and 3D printing services.

Category II – An Innovative Application of Engineering Theories

VSENSOR - Compact Train Vibration Monitoring Device with Intelligent Assessment Technology by Ir John S J LEUNG and Mr Andy K F PANG

Vibration monitoring is one of the most effective ways of monitoring train ride comfort and train structural change throughout its service lifetime. The conventional approach relies on bulky vibration dataloggers connected to laptops and amplifiers with long wires running from the train cab to the test locations.

MTR engineers Ir John Leung and Mr Andy Pang invented the VSENSOR unit to simplify the whole testing procedure. The sensor comprises a small battery-powered ARM microcontroller, high-speed micro SD card and miniature MEMS accelerometer which replaces the conventional system. With its compact size, VSENSOR can be fitted onto train components with minimal setup time. With its software intelligence, VSENSOR requires no operator and has the ability to map the train location from the pattern of train decelerations towards each station. This is particularly useful when no GPS positioning is available inside tunnels.

The engineers have also tailor-made a Windows-based software to perform statistical analysis on the collected data. The software allows the user to select a route between stations for conducting analysis that is based on root mean squared calculation and vibration peak detection. The information is useful for comparing the vibration performance of a train over the years of measurement, similar to a health record kept by a family doctor for spotting abnormal trends.

Ir Leung is an engineer in train design and modification, a former aircraft engine maintenance engineer and holds a Degree in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Sydney.

Mr Pang is a specialist in the area of train bogies and holds a MSc in Engineering Enterprise Management and a MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology and a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

This year, Certificate of Merit of Category II was presented to Ir Cheung Pak Kin and Mr Victor C W Shea.

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